In recent years, solid-state imaging elements such as CMOS image sensors have been widespread, and they are used in place of film-type photographing devices in various fields. The solid-state imaging element is utilized in place of a film-type photographing device in the normal photographing using visible light, and beyond this, it is more utilized than ever in photographing using invisible light such as ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, X-rays, and gamma rays.
However, performing visible light photographing and invisible light photographing using the same single solid-state imaging element is not a typical method. Note that a technique for enabling two types of photographing to be performed on the same single solid-state imaging element is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of dividing an imaging region of an imaging element, utilizing one of divided imaging regions for normal visible light photographing, and utilizing the other of the divided imaging regions for color spectrum photographing.